All of the athletic programs at Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Alabama exceeded the NCAA’s baseline Academic Progress Rate level for the 2011-12 academic year, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
Each of MSU’s 16 athletic team scored above the NCAA’s baseline Academic Progress Rate level for the 2011-12 academic year. A minimum four-year average score of 900, or 930 over the most recent two years, is required for postseason participation. The minimum required APR scores will increase to 930 for four years or 940 for two years, starting with the 2014-15 postseason. The cutoff is equivalent to a 50-percent graduation rate.
The men’s tennis team posted a perfect score of 1,000 during the 2011-12 reporting period to lead all sports and was recognized by the NCAA for earning a multi-year APR in the top 10 percent of teams around the nation with that mark. Baseball saw the biggest increase in its multi-year APR rate, jumping nine points to 962, while football (967), men’s golf (994), men’s tennis (1,000), men’s outdoor track (956), women’s indoor track (969), and women’s outdoor track (959) each improved by more than five points.
Fourteen athletics teams at Ole Miss posted multi-year APR scores above the national average for Division I in their respective sports, and four teams achieved a 1,000. All 18 sports scored above the national cutoff standard.
Women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s tennis, and volleyball received public recognition awards last week from the NCAA for posting multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of their sport. Women’s golf received the award for the fifth year in a row. Joining those four sports with perfect scores for the 2011-12 year is men’s tennis.
Baseball (978), men’s basketball (979), men’s tennis (984), men’s indoor track (969), men’s outdoor track (972), women’s basketball (976), women’s cross country (1,000), women’s golf (1,000), softball (993), women’s tennis (1,000), women’s indoor track, women’s outdoor track, volleyball and rifle all posted multi-year APR scores above the national average for Division I.
All 21 of Alabama’s varsity athletic teams scored well above the national cutoff standard. Sixteen Crimson Tide teams posted scores that either matched or were above the national Division I average in their respective sports.
A school-best total of five Alabama teams, including the Tide’s national champion football and men’s golf teams, recently received public recognition from the NCAA for their APR scores figuring in the top 10 percentile nationally among teams in those sports. Women’s golf, the 2012 NCAA champion, earned the APR honor for the third consecutive year, the women’s tennis team for the second year in a row and the men’s basketball team for the first time.
In addition to its national recognition, the football team and the men’s basketball team posted the highest APR scores in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama and Duke University were the only NCAA Division I schools in the country to have their football and men’s basketball team honored.
The Tide football team’s APR continues to rise, jumping eight points to 978 this year, which is 24 points higher than the national football average. The men’s basketball team moved up 11 points to a 995 four-year mark, which puts Alabama 43 points above the national average for men’s basketball.
The men’s golf teams, women’s golf and women’s tennis teams all scored a perfect 1,000 for their four-year score, while men’s basketball posted a 995. Those four teams were joined by 2012 NCAA champion softball team (990), the 2011 and 2012 NCAA champion gymnastics team (991), and the men’s tennis team (993).
The Tide’s women’s cross country (989), soccer (988), men’s cross country (985), women’s swimming and diving (984), men’s swimming and diving (981) teams posted scores of 980 or better.
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